Allison Beckham

Department of Conservation (Doc) staff hope an elusive rat first detected on Ulva Island in September is dead, but are not celebrating yet.

They know nothing about horses and they don't follow racing, but that hasn't stopped Invercargill couple Christine and Albert Dore parting with almost $4700 on a day trip to the Melbourne Cup.

As New Zealand gears up for a record cruise season in 2015-16, Cruise New Zealand chairman Kevin O'Sullivan says his organisation has accepted Maritime New Zealand (MNZ) will not remove a new levy which requires cruise ship operators entering Fiordland waters to pay twice.

A Southland man was startled but not injured when the drum of fuel he was filling on the back of his ute caught fire at a petrol station yesterday.

A 54-year-old Southland woman was taken to hospital with serious injuries after her car was hit by a train on a rural crossing near Edendale yesterday.

Health Minister Jonathan Coleman yesterday reassured Otago-Southland residents they would continue to have access to hospital and health services, despite the massive financial shakeup taking place within the Southern District Health Board.

Emergency services personnel raced to the Blue River Dairy factory in central Invercargill after reports of a chlorine leak about 3.45pm today.

A passion for transport dating back to his boyhood has resulted in Dunedin's Dave Potter being inducted into the New Zealand Transport Hall of Fame.

The addition of three further milk processing plants to Fonterra's Edendale factory - already the largest in the world by volume - means Fonterra can make a wider range of products and respond more quickly to demand, managing director of global operations Robert Spurway says.

It's a simple idea but one which Invercargill schoolboy Thani McLaren hopes will save lives on New Zealand roads.

Ensuring pet cats and dogs and native birds do not accidentally die during trapping or poisoning has been identified as one of the major challenges of an ambitious plan to remove predators from a swathe of Stewart Island/Rakiura.

Investigations have ruled out anything ''sinister'' behind why nine children fainted on stage during a rehearsal at Invercargill's Civic Theatre on Tuesday afternoon, the theatre manager says.

Investigations have ruled out anything''sinister'' behind why nine children fainted on stage during a rehearsal at Invercargill's Civic Theatre yesterday afternoon, the theatre manager says.

After decades of concentrated effort costing millions of dollars, bovine Tb finally seems to be on the way out in Otago and Southland.

Nikita Strange's family is living with loss, reports Allison Beckham.